Ronald Paul Tomsic (born April 3, 1933) is an American former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. Tomsic, a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

born in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

, played college basketball at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

from 1951 to 1955. A three-time All-PCC selection, he scored 1,416 points in his Stanford career, the most in school history at the time. He scored 40 points in a game against USC in 1955, sixth on the school's single-game scoring list, and still holds Stanford's single-season

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. Consequently, ...

attempts record. His name appears near the top of many other Stanford basketball scoring records. Following his graduation from Stanford, Tomsic was drafted by the

Syracuse Nationals The Philadelphia 76ers are an American basketball team currently playing in the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 76ers are third in NBA ...

in the 1955 NBA draft but did not play in the NBA. He played AAU basketball for the

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Olympic Club The Olympic Club is an sports club, athletic club and private social club in San Francisco, San Francisco, California. First named the "San Francisco Olympic Club", it is the oldest sports club, athletic club in the United States. Established ...

, and in 1956, was selected to be on the

United States national basketball team The USA Basketball Men's National Team, commonly known as Team USA and the United States men's national basketball team, is the basketball team representing the United States. It is the most successful men's team in international competition, ...

for the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

. In the Olympics, he scored 89 points for Team USA as the United States dominated its competition on the way to the gold medal. Since the death of Carl Cain on 2 June 2024, he is the last surviving member of the Olympic Champion's team of 1956. Tomsic has three children, Mark, Jill and Todd.

References

External links

Medal record at databaseOlympics.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomsic, Ron 1933 births Living people Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players Basketball players at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball Basketball players from Oakland, California Stanford Cardinal men's basketball players Syracuse Nationals draft picks United States men's national basketball team players American men's basketball players Guards (basketball)